Teaching my kids confidence and body positivity.

Last week, my youngest approached me while getting ready for school and lifted up her shirt in the mirror and said, “Mom, I look bloated.” At that moment, I thought to myself, “My god…you have got to stop talking about your body, Johanna.” There I said it. I do all this work on the sidelines but the person who least appreciates it is…ME!

It’s a love/hate relationship that has been going on since I was eight. Ballet, puberty, supermodels…it’s really a perfect storm. Ridiculous, right? Yesterday I posted this message on IG. I still stand by it 24 hours later. I am probably way tougher on myself than the norm and now my kids are absorbing that which can only be one person’s fault. Mine.

Here’s what I am going to do. I am going to continue posting and taking pictures shamelessly on this blog because it shows my daughters that I am confident in my own skin…even if I have to fake it until I make it. I am going to continue to tell them how awesome their bodies are and how gorgeous they are because they need to hear that until they turn blue in the face. I am going to continue to eat foods that are good for my mind, body and soul and I am going to allow myself to live life and splurge on the weekends.

And more of all, I am going to stop body shaming my own body in front of them or my husband and appreciate the extraordinary strength that I have worked for because I know far too many people that don’t have their health and that’s probably the most shameful fact of this post. What I have is a gift.

I hope by opening up a little today and sharing this brief post it helps one person stop in their tracks and realize they are making the same mistake as I am and that we can’t teach others to love themselves until we also do the SAME.

I suppose acknowledging that you are work in progress is just as important as actually believing it.

“Shout out to all the girls working on loving their bodies because that shit’s hard and I’m proud of you. 💫 I am proudly addicted to becoming stronger.”